Returning back to Canada from Pakistan

[Muhammad Noman Saleem]

Hello Everyone.
Need advise on returning back to Canada.
My parents and i travelled to canada in late 90's as immigrant from Pakistan,
But due to some personal reasons my family returned back to pakistan, at that time i was dependant and therefore came back.
Now i am interested to return back to Canada, I have following documents as a proof " Record of landing", "Immigrant Visa and Record of landing", and district school certifcate.
Now i am Electronics engineer with Masters degree and 08 years Multinational pharma experience.
Can anyone in this group have similar case and can guide the process?

 

[scylla]

Hello Everyone.
Need advise on returning back to Canada.
My parents and i travelled to canada in late 90's as immigrant from Pakistan,
But due to some personal reasons my family returned back to pakistan, at that time i was dependant and therefore came back.
Now i am interested to return back to Canada, I have following documents as a proof " Record of landing", "Immigrant Visa and Record of landing", and district school certifcate.
Now i am Electronics engineer with Masters degree and 08 years Multinational pharma experience.
Can anyone in this group have similar case and can guide the process?

Technically you are still a PR but it will be very difficult for you to keep your PR status. In order to fly directly to Canada, you need either a valid PR card or a valid PR Travel Document. Neither of these will be possible for you to obtain since you don't meet the PR residency obligation (living in Canada for 2 out of every 5 rolling years) and haven't been in Canada since the 90's. If you want to try to keep your PR status, the only option open to you is to fly to the US (this requires a US visa) and then to attempt to re-enter Canada through a land border using a private vehicle and hope you are not reported for failing to meet the residency obligation. If you are not reported, then you would remain in Canada for 2 years straight to meet the residency obligation and can then apply to renew your PR card. However duing these two years, you may experience challenges being able to work and get provincial health care due to the lack of a valid PR card. If you are instead reported at the border, you'll be allowed into Canada but wil have to appear at a hearing to argue why you should be allowed to keep your PR status despite not meeting the residency requirement and not living in Canada for 30 years. So long story short, it will be very difficult to try to keep your PR status. But you can certainly give it a try if you have a valid US visa and are willing to accept the risks with this approach, including understanding that you may not be successful.

Alternatively, you can renounce your PR status and reapply for PR from scratch through an economic immigration program like Express Entry.

 

[Muhammad Noman Saleem]

Thanks scylla
I will try for it.

 

[canuck78]

Technically you are still a PR but it will be very difficult for you to keep your PR status. In order to fly directly to Canada, you need either a valid PR card or a valid PR Travel Document. Neither of these will be possible for you to obtain since you don't meet the PR residency obligation (living in Canada for 2 out of every 5 rolling years) and haven't been in Canada since the 90's. If you want to try to keep your PR status, the only option open to you is to fly to the US (this requires a US visa) and then to attempt to re-enter Canada through a land border using a private vehicle and hope you are not reported for failing to meet the residency obligation. If you are not reported, then you would remain in Canada for 2 years straight to meet the residency obligation and can then apply to renew your PR card. However duing these two years, you may experience challenges being able to work and get provincial health care due to the lack of a valid PR card. If you are instead reported at the border, you'll be allowed into Canada but wil have to appear at a hearing to argue why you should be allowed to keep your PR status despite not meeting the residency requirement and not living in Canada for 30 years. So long story short, it will be very difficult to try to keep your PR status. But you can certainly give it a try if you have a valid US visa and are willing to accept the risks with this approach, including understanding that you may not be successful.

Alternatively, you can renounce your PR status and reapply for PR from scratch through an economic immigration program like Express Entry.

Would add that if you are married or have children you would need to wait until you are compliant with your RO to be able to sponsor them if you don’t get reported. You are looking at around 3-4 years of separation if you don’t get reported. Did you get a SIN# as a child when you came to Canada? Your parents would have had to apply for it for you.